Can time heal regret?
by VectorLogic
Summary: A monferno has been regretting the day he faded from existance, leaving a heartbroken riolu behind in the process. Will he be able to put it behind him and move forward, even if it involves some help from an unlikely ally?


**Hey guys, VectorLogic here. I got another story that took some time to do and redo. Anyway, enjoy?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or it's spin-off, they belong to Gamefreak and Spike-Chunsoft.**

* * *

Can time heal regret? I've been asking myself that question for some time. Ever since that day when I disappeared, I've been feeling a huge amount of guilt, like I should have told her from the get-go. As I stand near the entrance of Sharpedo Bluff, gazing at the sunset, I thought about what I could have done to ease her pain.

"Hey, Dante," I heard a voice from behind me. I turned to meet my partner's gaze, a look of concern on her face, or as close to one as any riolu could be. "I'm starting to worry about you," she says as she come out of the entrance. "You come out here every time the sun goes down, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing Luna," I replied, albeit in a nervous tone. "It's been some time since I've seen the sunset, and I always admire it's beauty."

She gives me a playful jab on my arm and walks back inside. "Well don't stay there too long. You may be a monferno now, but you still need some rest."

"I know I know." I turn around and started to walk back inside our base. _Damn it, are you that afraid of how she'll react? Grow a pair and tell her what's on her mind!_

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, there she was, getting her bed ready for another night's sleep. "Tomorrow, we're going to stock up on items," I stated. "We're starting to run low, which means it's gonna be difficult whenever we're out on missions." Luna nods in agreement and lays herself down on her bed. I lay on mine and closed my eyes.

I open my eyes to find that I'm at the entrance of Temporal Tower. "What the...why am I back here?" I then noticed a small orb of light, then another, and another, after a few seconds, more and more appear at a faster rate. When I looked down, I saw that my feet were gone, it was then I realized what was happening: I'm disappearing again. "No no no, not again!"

"Dante." I turned to see Luna, on the verge of crying. "Why didn't you tell me this was going to happen?"

"I didn't want this to happen, but I don't want the planet's paralysis to happen."

"So you kept the fact that you could disappear a secret!?"

"I had no choice, I didn't know what would happen if I did."

Luna clenched her paws into a fist. "You're supposed to be my best friend, yet you kept it a secret from me," she shouted with a mix of anger and sadness. "You know what...I think it's best if you stayed gone."

Luna turns and walks away from me as I got closer and closer to fading from existence again. "Luna wait," I shouted. "Wait, don't leave me to fade. I'm sorry, I didn't want to..." before I could say anymore, my mouth disappears, all I could do was panic as my arms and body fade away.

I shot up from my bed, sweat dripping down my face as I gasp for breath. "Dante, Dante," Luna whispers. "It's okay, it's just a dream."

"It was a nightmare," I replied. "I thought we took care of Darkrai months ago."

"I'm pretty sure there's another one taking over."

"I thought only one legendary of the same species can exist."

"It's a long story for next time." Luna walks over and sits next to me...a little too close to me. "Are you sure there's nothing on your mind?"

I took a deep breath a few times and began to tell her what was up. "Remember that day, when I disappeared?"

"Of course, that was a very sad day for me. What about it?"

"Nothing," I said. "Just curious is all."

I looked out of the bluff's maw and saw that the sun was rising. Even though I've seen it a few times already, it's still a beautiful sight. If I was going to tell her, I'd have to wait until sunset, at the exact area where we first met. As I stare out into the horizon, Luna taps my shoulder.

"Come on," she said. "We got to go gather some items, remember?"

"Oh right. Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"It's okay, I do that a lot sometimes."

As I got up from my bed, Luna was giving me an explanation on where we should go first. She decided the first place to go with be that cave by the beach, when I asked her why, she just said that she got a gut feeling about it. When we arrived, the entrance looked a little worn, probably from high tides.

"It has been a while since we've been through that dungeon," said Luna.

"I know. It was the first dungeon we went through just to get that relic fragment from Zubat and Koffing," I replied. "Of course, after we graduated, we turned this dungeon into a training site, though from what I've heard from the guildmaster, it got some very tough costumers now."

Beach Cave was one of the few Mystery Dungeons that's gotten unstable as of late. We were in for a rough time just to gather items as the pokemon inside, or so Wigglytuff told us, were different and powerful. It was classified as a "Danger Zone" by some unknown party, and that veteran exploration teams should use caution when exploring it, which includes Luna and I.

"Let's find the Kecleon brothers," I stated. "We're low on items anyway, but we got enough money to buy the necessary ones to...HEY!"

I saw Luna run straight through the entrance of the cave, without a plan of action, and let out a groan of frustration. I know she's becoming braver as time goes by, but bravery is far different from recklessness. Without hesitation, I followed her in.

 _Why would she even think of diving in head first into this dungeon? Ugh, the sooner I find her, the sooner we can get out of here._

I had to endure some encounters with the pokemon there, and have nearly wasted all of the necessary items to reach the end. Some of them were tough, while the others definitely tested my skills, add that they're mostly water-types and it's a recipe for trouble for me. When I reached the end of the dungeon, I see Luna, staring out into space.

"Luna," I shouted. "Why did you run off like that? You could have been seriously hurt, or worse."

She didn't reply to my comment, and I felt a weird chill down my spine. Luna then collapsed onto the ground. I panicked and rushed over to her, hoping that she didn't get hurt in the process, which could have added more things to regret later. When she came to, she told me that she was sorry for running into the mystery dungeon, and that we should get out while we still can. Problem was, it was too late, for we heard a familiar laugh inside the room.

"It's been a long time since we've fought, hasn't it Dante?"

Suddenly, a pokemon appears out of the floor and into my sights. It was none other than Dusknoir himself.

"Well, since you're both here," he continues. "I think it's about time we settled an old score."

I picked u Luna and placed her down in a spot where she wouldn't get hit by stray attacks. Taking a deep breath, I walked over towards him and got into my fighting stance.

"Why are you here," I asked. "More importantly, what did you do to Grovile and Celebi?"

"Oh, those two, they're fine," he answered. "Well, in pain, but not dead in the slightest. If I were you though, I'd worry about myself and the situation I'm in. But first, I'd have to congratulate you on preventing the Planet's Paralysis, and keeping the future intact, it was an impressive feat indeed. Unfortunately..."

Dusknoir disappears in front of me, and I frantically search for him. Before I could react, however, I was hit by his Dark Pulse attack from behind, which knocked me down onto the floor.

"...It's not going to be enough to defeat me."

I got up onto my feet and focused my attention toward where the blast originated from. I closed my eyes to focus on where and when he would strike, and when I felt his presence behind me, I turned around, and avoided a back-handed strike. Regaining my footing, I used Flamethrower on him. The attack landed, unfortunately it wasn't as effective, but it did leave a burn on him.

"You're reaction timing has improved a bit," he commented. "I guess evolving into a monferno has it's perks. But is it enough to save your partner?"

"Of course it will," I shouted. "I made a promise to her that I'll stay by her side, that I'll be with her until the very end."

"How noble of you, but were you able to keep that promise when you disappeared?"

That struck a cord with me, which made me slightly angrier than I was when he showed up.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?" he taunted. "When you disappeared, how did she react? Was she accepting of it...actually, better question, did you even tell her that you would disappear?

"Shut up! I had no choice, better to sacrifice one to save many, than to sacrifice many to save one!"

"Then tell me something...was it really worth breaking your partner's heart?"

I thought about it for a second, and realized that he was right. Even if I told her, it definitely would have been devastating. I was with her throughout everything we've been through, I was there to help her, to support her, to keep her spirits up, and it helped forge a bond that even time couldn't break. I fell down onto my knees, defeated.

"So, you've gotten it," said Dusknoir. "My work here is done, but I'll leave you with a little tip. They say time heals all wounds, but it can never heal regret, not by itself anyway."

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"My task from Luna was to snap you back into reality, to see that you yourself can move forward and not let something like that hold you back from what truly matters. You and your partner have done a lot, to see your spirit crushed from events that you had little to no power over, would prove to be troublesome for when it's time for you to answer the call for help."

"Wait, Luna planned this whole thing?"

Without a word, Dusknoir disappears again, leaving Luna and I alone at the end of this dungeon. I contemplated what he just told me, and figured it was time to move on and move forward. I picked Luna up and carried her on my back all the way to the entrance of the cave, by the time we exited it, it was already sunset.

"So, Luna, how much did you hear?"

"All of it," she answered. "To be honest, I knew you held this much regret over that day. I wanted you to move forward, to leave the past behind."

Her voice cracked when she got to the end of her statement. She got off my back and walked over to the ocean, right where she first found me.

"When I first met you, you were just a chimchar with no memory of your life as a human," she continues. "You were also the only one I could ask to help get the relic fragment back from those creeps."

"Yeah, I remember. Still can't believe they outsmarted everyone, including Chatot. I doubt we'll see Team Skull for a while though, but at least we have some form of respite."

Luna and I sat down near the spot, making sure to avoid the tide. When I looked towards her, she was crying.

"I'm glad that I've met you," she said as her voice cracked. "If it wasn't for you, I never would have been in the guild, have had so many adventures, and even become heroes. You're my best friend, and seeing you disappear in front of my eyes like that..."

Luna sounded like she was fighting back the tears. I was about to say something to reassure her that everything's okay, but she pushed me onto my back and straddled me down.

"You have no idea how much it hurt for me to see you disappear," she said, almost in a shouting tone of voice. "It felt like my heart was ripped out of my body, and crushed over and over again. I was sad and angry at the same time!"

Her tears were falling onto my face as I laid there with my back against the hot sand. I couldn't fight back the urge to cry anymore, and I started to speak after some time.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this," I softly spoke. "Here I was, doing my best to fulfill your dream and my duty, that I didn't think about your feelings. I was there to pick you up when you were feeling down, I fought beside you when our backs were against the wall, and to see that one friend who stood beside you fade out of existence right in front of you..."

It was my turn to start crying. I felt guilty when I didn't tell her about me fading out, nor did I have the courage to tell her how much I regretted it up until this exact moment. I was going to say more, but I felt something touch my lips. When I looked down, I saw Luna's paw on it, and a smile on her face when I looked back up.

"Let me finish," she whispered. "I was sad and angry that you didn't tell me, but I understood why. To be honest, if I knew before hand, I'd probably hesitated in putting the time gears in the indentations."

"What are you saying?"

"I was more so angry at myself for not telling you how I feel before you faded out," she continues. "I was so happy when you came back to me, no amount of words can describe that feeling. I also remembered fondly of our time taking care of a baby manaphy, it's almost as if we were one big happy family."

"Yeah, I remember that day. I even asked if we would make good parents for when we have our own kids to take care of."

 _Heh, I remember that as well, of course I was a bit flustered when she asked that. I thought that we'd make great parents when the time came, but for now, we're still an exploration team._

"I agree, we'd make great parents."

"What, how did you...right, aura."

Luna giggled at my reaction, but the answer was obvious from the get go. Even though she's a riolu, she has some form of aura manipulation, albeit a weaker version. I took a deep breath once again, and started to speak.

"I'm sure I haven't told you this yet, but thank you. To be honest, I didn't think I would be able to stop it from happening. My memories were gone, and you stuck by me, even though I said something as crazy as 'I was originally a human.' If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten this far, made new friends, and..."

I stoppedmid sentence, and I was blushing like crazy, or at least I felt it happen. I took another deep breath to calm myself down, but before I could speak, Luna leans over to kiss me. It caught me off-guard for a second before I kissed her back, wrapping my arms around her in the process. We had to break apart tobreath, which gave Luna time to say those four words: "I love you too." She rolls off me and onto her back on the sand, as we watched the bubbles float around in the sunset. It took me some time to realize it, but I really do have a future to look forward to. Dusknoir was right, time can't heal regret by itself, and I have Luna to help with it.

* * *

 **So, what do you think? Am I getting better, is there something that still needs some fine tuning? Rate and reviews are needed. Hopefully I don't take too long on my next story.**

 **VectorLogic, out**


End file.
